Birthday Present
by YukinaBlackLegs
Summary: It's Zoro's Birthday today, and his grandfather, Gin Roronoa, decides to give him his gift. However, the gift is nothing what he expected. When Zoro opens his gift, he is surprised to find a young girl with a strange black tail. How can our green-haired fighter become the world's greatest swordsman if he has to take care of a kid? Based on Mr. Popers Penguins. ZoroXOC fluff.
1. Chapter 1

One Piece Fanfic

It's Zoro's Birthday today, and his grandfather, Gin Roronoa, decides to give him his gift. However, the gift is nothing what he expected. When Zoro opens his gift, he is surprised to find a young girl with a strange black tail. How can our green-haired fighter become the world's greatest swordsman if he has to take care of a kid? Based on Mr. Popers Penguins. ZoroXOC fluff.

Chapter 1: It's my birthday and I can do what I want to

Things were going very hectic on the Going Merry. Everyone was getting everything ready. And for what, you may ask? Today, November 11th, was the birthday of their green-haired swordsman. Ever since that one year where they couldn't plan the swordsman's party due to their ship being under attack (Not that Zoro didn't enjoy spending that day beating up some Marines), they wanted to make things up with Zoro by planning for the party a week ahead of time. It wasn't all too hard though, since most of the time while they had docked, Zoro was either training or fast asleep. However, as they were trying to get some last minute touches done, there was a certain *cough* problem that needed to be tended to….

Meanwhile, in the Gallery:

"FOR THE LAST TIME LUFFY, STOP EATING THE CAKE!" Sanji yelled as he kicked Luffy upside his head.

"But Sanji!~ I'm really huuungry!~" Luffy whined as he tended to the rather large lump on his head, only to get another one.

"STOP THINKING ABOUT YOUR STOMACH FOR ONCE, BAKA!" yelled Nami as she hit Luffy on the head, giving him an extra lump.

"Ouch! That hurts!"

"Be quiet you guys!" hushed Usopp "We don't want the birthday boy to wake up before we have everything ready!" While everyone was in the Gallery, Zoro had gone to take his evening nap. Since then, they had gotten all the tables set, Sanji had prepared the food (of course) while Nami, Robin, and Franky got the presents and decorations. Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp did their job of distracting (annoying) or tiring the poor swordsman when the others had to sneak things up the ship. (Like Nami would trust those idots with money after all the money they wasted on that one party, not to mention the debts they still had)

"Oh please, that nimrod can sleep past a storm" replied Sanji as he went back finishing the meal

"True, I'm not surprised if by the time we're done, he's still out like a light" Nami replied too, knowing all too well how deep a sleeper Zoro was.

"Hmmm…a bet you say…." Usopp replied thoughtfully.

"What are you talking about Usopp?" Nami answered, now a little confused and somewhat angry for some odd reason

"I, the Great Pirate Captain Usopp, bet you, Cat Burglar Nami, that he won't be asleep when we're done" Usopp said, puffing his chest out as though he already one the bet

"Oh really?" Nami said, her eyes clearly showing that she wasn't interested, much less believed him.

"Oh yes. You see Nami, in my younger days, I was known as the best gambler in the whole world. No one could out bet me because of the amazing skill lady luck wonderfully bestowed upon me!" Usopp answered confidently

"_Here we go with another one of Usopp's Lies…then again…" _And just like that, Nami's bored expression became a greedy one

"Alright then Usopp"

"Ummm…Alright what, Nami?"

"About the bet" Nami answered "If I win, you owe me $10 million beri."

"TE-TEN MILLION!"

"AND! You will have to do all my night watches for a whole month, no complaining."

"But-but-"

"Ew, this doesn't taste really sweet…"

"LUFFY GET YOUR GREEDY MITS OFF THE CAKE, DAMN IT!"

(While they are busy pummeling Luffy, let's go to where Zoro is, Ne?)

Zoro was currently taking the best nap of his life. Amazingly enough, no one had come to bug him. No yelling sessions from Nami, no Luffy, Usopp, or Chopper bugging him or trying to get him to play stupid kid games, and no stupid cook kicking him for being a unmannered brute. Things on the Going Merry were peaceful….too peaceful damn it. Agreeing with this, Zoro got up, only to find that he had gone to sleep near Nami's Mikan Trees. He didn't rembember much how he got there. He only knew that he had to get away from the three idiots who wanted to dress him up (He was a man, dang it, some little girl's doll).

"Guess I better go find out where the others are up too" Zoro muttered to himself as he stood up, only to stop himself when he heard rather strange, yet familiar sound behind him.

*POOF!*

"I hope that this is the right place, I don't think I want to get wacked on the head again if I end up poofing in a stranger's house" replied an old man as he dusted his clothes.

"O-Ojii-san!" Zoro replied when he realized who the stranger was. It was his Grandpa, Gin Roronoa. He was a well-known magician in his days. However, the old man was getting so memory fuzzed that he would randomly conjure up random things without giving it a second thought. And just like Zoro, his Grandfather had green hair.

"Oh Zoro-kun!" replied the old man when he saw his surprised nephew "I'm so glad to know that I found the right ship, you have no idea the crazy—"

"What are you doing here, Granpa?"

"Well, I came here to say hi to my favorite grandson" replied Gin

"Grandpa, I'm your only grandson" countered Zoro

"And I came here to give you your present" answered the old man, ignoring Zoro's comment completely

"Present?" Zoro asked, completely confused

"Don't tell me you forgot!" Gin asked his grandson, lifting his hands above his head dramatically

"Forgot what?"

"YOU'RE BIRTHDAY! Honestly, Zoro-kun, you can be so dense at times…" Gin answered, scolding his grandson for his memory gap. The comment kind of annoyed Zoro (king of is such an understatement). _"Says the guy who turned his friend into a bunny and then forgetting all about it" _Zoro thought in his head. It was honestly a comical day really, if one thinks about it. Gin had gone crazy that day and kept ranting about how his friend had been turned into a rabbit and that the culprit should pay. Five hours later, Gin remembered his mistake and turned his friend back to normal. Zoro never saw that man, nor his family after that day.

"So, where is it?"

"Where's what?"

"The present"

"What present?"

Now Zoro was all the way mad. Honestly, he loved his Grandpa to death, but the man could be insufferable. Not that Zoro didn't try to be patient, mind you.

"My birthday present?" Zoro answered, hoping his Grandfather would remember

"Oh yes!" replied Gin as he doved for his bag.

"Lets see…no that's not it…not that eit—Here it is!" replied Gin as he pulled out a rather heavy crate. It was about the height of Zoro's knee and was about 3 feet wide. It had a lot of holes around the bottom sides of the crate and was had a huge bow placed on top.

"What is this?"

"I'm glad you asked, Zoro-kun, you see this…" however, just as Gin-san was about his confused grandson when a loud ringing sound rang out.

"Oh no! I forgot that I had some errands to tend too!"

"Oji-san what—"

"Sorry Zoro-kun, I need to leave immediately. See you later though"

"Wait, Oji-san I—" it was too late though, the old man had disappeared

"Oh well" sighing in defeat, Zoro decided to turn back to the crate.

"_This thing is pretty big, hope it's filled with lots of sake…" _

Opening the crate, Zoro had failed to notice the little object that flew to the ground. Looking inside, Zoro was shocked by what he had seen. In the crate was not only not booze, but instead a little girl, maybe 5 or so years old, with raven hair and ember green eyes, staring up at Zoro, with a confused, yet innocent looking face as her tail whipped around curiously back in forth.

"Hey Zoro! Are you awake ye-"

"WHAT THE HECK!"

Sorry that I finished the story real quick. I just really wanted to post this before tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed it. Stick tune to see how things go from here. :D


	2. Chapter 2

All right, before I begin the chapter, I'm here to say that I am not stopping this story. I just been having a huge writer's block with this story because 1) I had trouble trying to make Zoro more approachable to children. Not that he's mean to kids, it's just…hard for me to do :3 2) I've been busy with school and stuff, and 3) I've been real preoccupied with my other stories. But hopefully, I will be able to update this story more frequently. And with that, Let's get on with the chapter!

Chapter 2- Surprise?

After decorating the Gallery from top to bottom, the Straw Hat team thought that now was the perfect time to bring in the birthday boy.  
"Wow, the room looks great!" Usopp commented as he surveyed the room.

The dining table was dressed in a light green table cloth. Yellow ribbons and blue and yellow balloons were placed around the ceiling. On the table were several party platters and in the center was a cake that looked similar to Zoro's three swords.

"The cake looks _**Super!**_" added Franky "It totally looks like Zoro-bro's swords!"  
"Wow Sanji, you really outdid yourself." Nami said as she viewed the cook's latest masterpiece.  
"Arigatou Nami-swan~! Your complements mean more than the world to me!" Sanji said as he thanked the ship's navigator for her compliment. However, his thoughts went back to a certain swordsman and his smile turned into a frown. "That Moss head better appreciate the hard work I put into that cake!" Sanji said as he examined his cake. Sanji had been paying attention to the swords' every detail the whole week they've been preparing. It was a true replica of Zoro's swords!  
"I'm sure he will, cook-san" Robin said as she reassured the cook.  
"Oh, Robin-chwan~! It's so nice to know that you care about me! "Sanji replied, all past thoughts forgotten.  
"Don't you guys think it's time that we wake up Zoro so we can surprise him?" Chopper asked his friends  
At the words "wake up", Nami's face became very intimidating, her hair covered her eyes, making her face dark as a wide smirk was placed on her face.  
"Your right Chopper, let's get somebody to go get him" Nami said in an 'oh-so-innocent' sounding voice, her eyes looking directly at Usopp.  
_'Aw man, I totally forgot about the bet! What am I gonna do now?!' _Knowing Nami, she would hold him to the bet, no matter what. So giving up on complaining, Usopp decided it was time to face the music.  
"H-hey Luffy, c-can you go u-up and w-wake up Z-Zoro " Usopp asked Luffy, too scared to face the possible result.  
"Yosh! I'll go get him" replied the happy-go-lucky captain as he opened the door.  
"Hey Zoro, are you awake ye-!" but before he could finish his sentence, a louder voice muted his own.  
"WHAT THE HECK?!"  
That got the whole crew's attention. What could have happened that alarmed Zoro so much?

Making their way to the green-haired swordsman, they went to see if Zoro was alright.

"What's wrong, Zo—?" Nami was asking, until she noticed what the 'thing' was. In front of them, next to a crate, was a little girl. She looked quite young and had black hair and green eyes. But that wasn't what caught the Navigator's attention. It was the girl's black tail that moved on its own, back and forth. That wasn't something most people saw every day. Even if they were on their way to the Grand Line, this is one the strangest things they've seen yet!

"Hey wait a second…" Usopp said before turning towards the Navigator "Zoro was awake after all! So I won the bet!"

"Oh right…" Nami replied "Oh well, I guess I'll take about 1 hundred beli off your debt"

"Wait, WHAT?!" Usopp asked, obviously not happy with what he won.

"No fair Zoro! How come you can have a pet and I can't!~" complained the straw hat captain, only to get a good kick in the head by Sanji, Nami, and Usopp.

"SHE'S NOT A PET, YOU IDIOT!" yelled Nami

"DON'T CALL YOUNG LADIES PETS, YOU MORON!" added Sanji

"HOW CAN YOU CONFUSE HER FOR A PET?!" questioned the sharp-shooter

"Okay! Okay! I'm sorry!" begged Luffy as he tried to get away from his violent friends.

"Zoro-bro, congratulations!" Franky said to the now-angry swordsman

"She's not my kid, Franky!" yelled Zoro to the cyborg

"Where did you get the girl, Swordsman-san?" asked Robin, interrupting the two men before their discussion became an argument.

"I got her from my grandfather, Gin." Answered Zoro as he pointed at the crate "He gave me that crate and said that it was his gift to me for my birthday. However, I didn't know that_**she-**_" Pointing to the girl that was still looking at the crew confusedly "-was the present he was talking about…"

"Didn't know your gramps was kid-napper, bro" Franky said before shaking his head disapprovingly.

"He didn't steal her, idiot!"Zoro retorted at the cyborg, only to question the possibility himself. After all, who can say where he got the kid? "...At least, I don't think he did…"

"Well one thing's for sure, she's definitely not human" Robin replied as she examined the child.

"Do humans not have tails when their children?" Franky asked. He wasn't sure of the anatomy of the human body, so he was curious.

"Moron, if we had tails, then we'd be related to animals" Zoro answered, wondering why the cyborg would even think such a thing.

"…But Luffy's sort of a Monkey" added Franky

"That's an exception"

"I think I may be able to identify this creature in one of my 'Myths and Legends' books. Maybe one of those will give us the answer as to 'what' our little guest is. Ne Swordsman-san?" Robin asked

Shrugging his shoulders, Zoro gave the archeologist a look that simply said 'Do what you want'

"I'll be in the library then. Good luck, Swordsman-san" Robin answered as she left the deck, waving good bye at the little girl who eyed her as she walked up the stairs.

"Hmm…so what are you going to do with her, Zoro-bro?" Franky asked the swordsman

"Yeah Zoro, what are you going to do?" asked Usopp, finished with what he was doing before (knocking some sense into Luffy :D)

"I'm not sure, really" Zoro answered truthfully. What was he going to do? After all, he still had his own goals to meet. How can he become the world's strongest swordsman if he had to spend his days babysitting a kid?

"Well, why you're getting your priorities straight, why don't we all go inside the Gallery" answered Sanji. It was then that the Straw Hats had noticed that the sky turned dark and the moon was rising high over the ocean waters.

"Mind as well, it is getting dark out" Nami agreed as she and the other straw hats tried to hide their contentment while walking inside the Gallery.

"_They are acting strange…"_ thought Zoro as he saw Luffy and Usopp snickering and whispering to one another, one of them always looking behind to check on the swordsman as if they were worried that he had heard them. _"Oh well…hopefully everything will make sense,… sooner or later"_ Zoro said to himself as he walked up to the black-haired girl. Fearful from the action, the girl backed away a little, not sure what the man's intentions were.

"Come on, kid. We can't stay outside any longer" Zoro said to the girl. However, rather than listening, she ran behind the long pole of the crow's nest.

"Great, this isn't gonna be easy…" Zoro muttered to himself as he tried to come up with a way to get the girl to come over and stop being afraid of him. Though it annoyed him, he couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for the girl. She had no idea what was going on and she didn't have anyone to call her own. Zoro was fortunate because he had his nakama. Though they could be a pain at times, but they were still his family.

"Hey kid."said Zoro, quiet enough for only the little girl to hear. Registering the voice, she poked her head out. "Listen, I know we got on the wrong foot and all. It's just….damn it I can't do this!" Zoro said, muttering the last part to himself. He honestly wasn't good at talking to people, let alone comforting them! He couldn't help but feel embarrassed because his mouth just couldn't find the right words. Seeing the swordsman in confusion, the little girl decided that the man wasn't any danger and came out from behind her hiding spot. Seeing that the girl wasn't afraid of him, he felt relieved. She was finally opening up to him.

"Look, I'm sorry if I scared you. I didn't mean to frighten you, I was just shocked, is all" Zoro said, his calm voice seemed to encourage the young girl to walk up to him.

"So is it okay if we start over and try to become friends?" Zoro asked the girl, receiving a smile and a nod from the young girl. Suddenly, just as the two were getting along, a small rumble was heard.

"Are you hungry?" asked Zoro as the girl wrapped her arms around her stomach.

"I'll take that as a yes. Come on, the idiot cook is a pain but he makes good food… Don't let him know I said that" said Zoro as he led the girl to the Gallery. However, when he entered, the room was dark.

"Did they all go to bed or something?" Zoro asked himself as he let go of the little girl's hand in search of the light. She was going to follow him when another hand touched her shoulder. She was about to scream when she saw a familiar pair of brown eyes.

"You need to be quiet" whispered Nami to the young girl "We are trying to give Zoro a surprise for his birthday, okay?" Nodding her head, the little girl remained silent and allowed Nami to help her crawl under the table, letting the raven-haired girl sit on the orange-haired woman's lap.

"Hey kid, where'd you go?" Zoro asked aloud when he realized the girl was gone. Receiving no answer, he proceeded to find the lights so he can properly search for the girl. When his hand touched the switch, he flicked the lights on.

"Finally…"

"SURPRISE!" yelled the Straw Hat crew, almost giving Zoro a heart attack.

"What the heck is wrong with you guys!" yelled Zoro

"It's a surprise birthday party!~" answered Luffy

"…Is this what you've guys been up to?" Zoro asked once he was able to comprehend the situation.

"Yeah, you have no idea how hard it was to distract you!" Franky added

"Usually you're fast asleep when we get on the ship! Did you start drinking coffee or something?"questioned Usopp

"Shut up, Usopp"

"I will say this though; all the effort for making your party was worth it if it meant seeing that stupid look on your face!" Sanji said, laughing at the memory of Zoro's surprised face, making the swordsman growl in his direction.

"Cook-san even made you a cake" replied Robin, who had come down not that long before the crew members turned the lights off. "I think that you will find it quite interesting"

"Is that my swords?" Zoro asked as he pointed at the cake. He was really shocked with Sanji's craftsmanship. The cake looked _**exactly **_like his swords.

"You did this?" asked the swordsman, now pointing in the direction of the cook

"Who else do you know here who can cook like I can? I don't want your gratitude either way, though" Sanji answered

"Like I was going to thank you!" Zoro replied

"Why you little-!" Sanji was saying until he and Zoro got hit over the heads by an angry orange-haired navigator.

"Watch your mouths, we have a kid here, you know!" yelled Nami. However, the little girl couldn't help but feel a little scared of the woman when she saw the big lumps she left on their heads. Her tail twitched in fear as she backed away from the Navigator. Seeing the girl's reaction, Zoro answered back "You're the one that's being a bad influence here!"

"Ummm… my bad!" said Nami as she tried calming the girl down "Gomennasai, Gomennasai! Onee-sama got a little carried away…" Nami reassured the young girl as she laughed nervously at her own mistake. The little girl accepted her apology by hugging the Navigator's leg, which made Nami scratch her head fondly at the action.

"Zoro, what are you going to name her anyway?" Nami asked once the girl got comfortable with her again.

"Yeah, we can't just keep calling her 'kid' the whole time" Sanji answered back once he was able to get back on his feet again

"How about we call her 'Cat'?" suggested Luffy

"FOR THE LAST TIME, SHE ISN'T A PET!" yelled Nami, Sanji, and Usopp at their idiot captain while the girl made a weird, disapproving sound at the suggestion of the name.

"How about 'Emily'? that's a pretty good name" added Sanji, only to get another disapproving grunt from the girl.

"What about 'Mikan'?" suggested Nami "Do you like the name, 'Mikan'?" Nami asked the girl, receiving a rejection from the young girl.

"She doesn't like any of those names…" Nami pondered aloud "Zoro, you make a suggestion…"

"How should I know? I don't know what name she'll like!"Zoro replied

"You're going to have to. She is your responsibility." Answered Nami "Besides, I think the only name she will accept is the one you give her" Nami said before pointing at the little girl who was looking at Zoro, her tail wagging as she waited for his answer.

"But!..Oh forget, I'll do it!" Zoro answered before thinking of a name. He honestly had no clue what to name the girl. It was when he noticed how the girl's emerald eyes began to shine in the moonlight that he got an idea.

"_Light…"_

"Um…What about Hikari?" Zoro suggested, waiting for the crews response.

"Let's see" Nami said before she bended down to the girl's level. "Do you like the name Hikari?" In response, the girl gave a cute sound that sounded like an approval, her tail wagging in delight.

"I guess we have a winner" Nami stated as the crew smiled at the girl's happy face.

"All right, let's have a toast!" Luffy said as he lifted his cup "To Zoro and our new nakama, Hikari!"

"Hai!"

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Next Day…

Everyone had gone to bed quite late last night. They had cake, some party games, even Hikari played every once and a while. The only reason Zoro got up (at all) was because, 1) the sun shine coming out of the window made him realize it was morning, 2) he had to check on Hikari. Knowing that, even though Nami had opened up to the girl (even letting her sleep in her bed), she was still going to make him assume the responsibility.

After freshening himself up and changing his clothes, Zoro walked in the direction of the girls' room. When he got there, he saw that Robin was leaving the room she and Nami shared.

"Good morning, Swordsman-san"

"Morning" Zoro answered back "Is Hikari still asleep?"

"Actually, she woke up not that long ago" Robin replied before pointing in the direction of the Gallery "I believe that heard Cook-san wake up not that long either. She may possibly be with him"

"Thanks" Zoro replied "So did you find anything about what Hikari is in your books?"

Frowning, Robin shook her head "No. It seems I'm going to have to search for a library at the next island we stop at and see if they some helpful books there"

"Hopefully" Zoro agreed as he and Robin continued to talk as they made their way into the Gallery. Opening the door, they saw that Hikari and Sanji were indeed there.

"Good morning, Robin-chwan~!" Sanji said the minute he saw Robin step in

"Morning, Cook-san" Robin answered as she turned to tell the girl 'Good Morning' as well. However, she seemed like she was preoccupied with something.

Hikari was sitting at the table, her eyes concentrated on the ground, face scrunched as her mouth began moving, as though she were trying to say something.

"What's wrong with her?" Zoro asked the Chef

"I don't know. She's been doing that since I've called her in for breakfast" Sanji replied as he cracked some eggs on the sizzling pan.

Concerned, both Zoro and Robin walked up to the girl.

"Hikari, are you alright?" Zoro asked the girl. On hearing his voice, Hikari lifted her head up. She said something to him, but he couldn't hear her.

"What?"

"CHOWO!" responded the girl. All three crew members were thrown off a bit by the girl's words.

"H-Hikari…what did you say again?" Sanji asked the girl

"CHO-WO!" replied the girl. Not taking it anymore, Sanji broke into a fit of laughter. Seeing the Swordsman getting annoyed by the Chef's actions, Robin tried to hide her smile behind her hand.

"I-I c-can't b-breath!" Sanji said in between his laughs.

"Shut up, Dartbrow!" Zoro said as he growled at the Chef's actions

"Aww…don't be mad, Cho-wo!" Sanji said, making the swordsman tempted to pull out his katanas right there and then. Instead, he just picked up the already confused little girl and left the room. Once Zoro left the room, Sanji was finally able to compose himself to proceed with making breakfast.

"Aw man, that was funny!" Sanji replied as wiped a tear off his face.

"Yes, I agree." Robin said, not able to get rid of her own smile "Today is turning out to be one of those interesting days…"

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"All right, let's get things straight here" Zoro said to the girl as he sat her down. They were currently in the training room that Franky had personally designed himself.

"Now, say it like me. Zo-ro" the swordsman said, saying his name carefully so the girl could annunciate it correctly.

"Cho-wo"

"ZO-RO"

"CHO-WO"

"Oh my gosh!" Zoro said as he slapped his face. "Let's try that again, Zo-ro"

"Cho-wo"

"ZO-RO!"

"ZO-WO!"

"Hey, that wasn't too bad" Zoro said, appreciating the name 'Zowo' more than 'Chowo'. "You learn quickly, kid" Zoro noted, making the girl smile at her progress.

"Now…"Zoro said, an evil looking smile set on his face "Let's see if you can learn this…"

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Back at the Gallery…

"Are you kidding me?" Nami asked as she tried to calm down from her laughter. After everyone had gotten down to eat breakfast, Sanji immediately told them about what had happened and how Hikari had embarrassed the life out of the poor swordsman.

"She really called him that!" Usopp asked as he too was in a fit of giggles

"Oh yeah she did!" Sanji answered "You should have seen the look of the Marimo's face when she called him that. 'Chowo! Chowo!'" Sanji said as he imitated the cute girl's antic.

Just then, the same two people they were talking about had entered the room.

"Look who's here!" Sanji said as he saw Zoro and Hikari walk in

"Good morning, Hikari" Nami said as the girl took a seat next to her. "Would you like some pancakes?" Nami asked the girl as she pointed at the stack of pancakes she saved for the girl. Seeing the fluffy cakes, Hikari's tail waggled happily as she immediately nodded her head. Taking the fork Nami gave her, she began eating them with much delight.

"Ne, Hikari, Can you say Zoro-bro's name again?" Franky asked, causing the crew members to break out into giggles again.

"Yeah, Hikari, say 'Zoro'" Nami said, while Zoro glared at her and called her a 'Witch'.

Swallowing her food, Hikari turned towards the crew members before speaking.

"Zo-wo" answered the little girl, making all the crew members cease their laughter.

"Aw man, Marimo, why'd you ruin it!" Sanji said as he glared at the swordsman

"Yeah Zoro, I wanted to hear her say it!" Luffy complained to his first mate.

Smirking at them, Zoro answered "Don't worry, that's not all I've taught her…"

"What, Really?" asked the captain excitedly

"Yep" Zoro answered before turning towards the girl "Hikari, say the Cook's name"

"Ka-Cuwy Bwow!" replied the little girl happily, making everyone but the Cook burst out in laughter.

As the crew continued laughing, Robin couldn't help but think to herself that today was _**indeed**_ going to be one of those interesting days.

Finally! Thanks to the guys who patiently waited on this fic! Like I said, I will do my best to update by this week. Btw, if you found this fic cute, than your gonna love my One Piece/Sonic X crossover fic I have planned for. Till then, bye! :3


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3- Dragon Town

The Straw Hats were starting to get accustomed to their new crew mate. Hikari loved playing with Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper; though she viewed Sanji, Franky, Robin, Nami, and Zoro as the only adults in the boat (can you blame her?). Hikari loved being with Zoro the most though, and she would always stick with him as much as she can. The other Straw Hats were getting worried that Zoro would find the companionship annoying, seeing as that Zoro was taking less naps and rarely drinking any booze. But to their surprise, Zoro wasn't mad at all. Actually he quite enjoyed the company. Hikari would usually sit and watch him when he was training and joined Zoro when he was meditating. Sometimes Zoro tried to get her to spare with him, but the little girl would get too scared and he'd have to call it a day. During the nights, Hikari would beg Zoro to read her a story before bedtime. Zoro found it a bit embarrassing to do at first, but gradually got use to it up to the point that he was walking the girl to the Bibliotheca right after they ate their dinners.

However, as much fun as Hikari had on the boat, she was a bit excited to see land. They hadn't landed on any island since the girl had joined the group. Nami had told the crew that it would take them about a few days to make it to the next island. Since then, Hikari would constantly look out the deck of the Sunny, her tail wagging happily as she tried looking for the island. Finally, after two days waiting, the Sunny finally made it to land.

The island they landed on was named Dragon Town. It was well known for its amazing fossil collection of possible dragon beasts. To this day, not many are sure if the relics are actually from dragons, but then again, they haven't been able to prove against it. So as Sanji, Usopp, Franky, and Zoro restocked on supplies, Nami took advantage of the time to do some shopping while Robin went to the town's book stores to continue her research. After much consenting, Zoro allowed Hikari to go look around the town with Luffy and Chopper, though he threatened Luffy that if anything happened to the girl, it would be on his captain's head. Happy to explore the land, Hikari went with the two Straw Hats.

They saw many things. They went to the town's giant dragon sculptured fountain, saw some of the street performers, looked through some stores and went into a few restaurants. However, at one point, the manager caught Luffy stuffing food that was not payed for and made him wash the dishes till each penny was payed. He let Chopper and Hikari go, telling her that her "Oni-san" would come back once he finished his "chores". He even gave Hikari some dragon fruit candy as she walked out the door, saying that she was a sweet kid and that he hoped her "brother's" bad actions didn't influence her.

However, with no Luffy, Hikari and Chopper didn't know what to do next.

"What should we do until Luffy comes out?" Chopper asked the raven-haired girl.

"Hmm…" Looking around, Hikari saw a map. It was posted on top of a board near the restaurant they just left. On it was an arrow pointing to a popular location. It was called "Dragon Falls". It looked there was a waterfall about a mile away from where they were, located in the jungle.

"There!" Hikari said as she pointed at the place. "Let's go here!"

"A waterfall, huh?" Chopper replied "That looks like fun, we can even swim there until Luffy is done"

"Yosh, let's go!"

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"Alright, I think that's the last of it" answered Sanji as the last bit of supplies was placed on the deck. After 5 hours of inventory restocking, they had finally gotten everything they needed.

"Phew, thank goodness" replied Usopp as he wiped the sweat off his face, "Any more pulling and lifting, and I'd be a gonnner"

"Don't start celebrating yet," Sanji answered "We still need to organize the supplies we got"

"Aw man!" cried Usopp "I can't take this anymore, it's too much!"

As the Sharp Shooter continued to complain about lifting more stuff, Sanji noticed that Zoro hadn't said a word. In fact, the whole time they were restocking, he hadn't heard a peep out of the swordsman. Not a single complaint or anything. Something was definitely wrong.

"Actually, Usopp, why don't you take care of the supplies, I have other…important matters to attend too…"

"What?!" yelled Usopp as he literally began to cry.

"Don't worry, Usopp-bro," answered Franky "I help you put away the supplies. If we work together, we can get everything put away in no time"

"Yeah, I guess your right" accepting the cyborg's assistance, Usopp and Franky began organizing the supplies. With them out of the way, Sanji finally approached the oddly silent green-haired man.

"Okay, what's up with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You've been silent the whole time. Now, I know you're a plant and everything, but even Marimo's need to give a sign that their alive, correct?"

Ignoring the comment, Zoro tried explaining the reason for his rather silent behavior "It's just…I don't even know!" Zoro said as he took a seat near the crow's nest

"Well, can you tell me what's bothering you?" Sanji asked. _"Not that I care either way…" _(Sure you don't Sanji~)

"It's just that, I've never been away from Hikari for this long…" Zoro answered

"Wait, you're kidding me. What about when she sleeps?" Sanji asked, which Zoro just gave him a "Are you really this stupid?" look.

"Dart Brow, when was the last time you've seen me sleep in the boy's cabin?" Zoro asked the chef. Now actually thinking about it, Zoro hadn't slept in the gallery since the day after Hikari came aboard.

"About…2 weeks ago…" Sanji answered in realization "Okay then, but that still shouldn't mean you're not use to being without her for 3 hours. What about when she plays with the others or when she takes a bath?"

"Sanji, literally, she only spends about 2 hours with you guys" Zoro answered "I usually get up and make her breakfast an hour before you get up; I make sure she's changed and give her her baths. Nami does take care of her but she always ends up looking for me half an hour after. I honestly spend about 22 hours of the day with her." Explained Zoro as Sanji gave him a shocked look.

"I just don't feel comfortable leaving her alone with Luffy"

"Wow, when did you become such a parent?"

"Shut up" answered Zoro "Besides, they shouldn't be out there that long…"

"Relax Papa Marimo" Sanji answered as he ignored the "Stupid Cook" remark. "I'm sure Luffy's got everything handled."

For the second time, Zoro gave Sanji another questioning look.

"What?" asked Sanji as Zoro gave him that look again

Taking a long sigh before explaining, Zoro answered "Sanji, this is Luffy we are talking about right?"

"Yeah. And?" asked Sanji before he finally realized what the Marimo was hinting at "We gotta go check on them"

"Already on it!" answered Zoro who was already off the deck of the ship and running in the direction Luffy, Chopper, and Hikari had gone earlier.

"Hey wait for me!" Sanji answered as he jumped off board before he ran after the swordsman "If you keep running by yourself, you're gonna get lost!"

"Shut up. Dart Brow!"

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"Wow!" replied the little girl and reindeer as they basked in the magnificent sight before them. It was beautiful. The mountains were huge and lush with green grass. Tropical flowers decorated the grass beautifully. The waterfall was stunning too! The clear water curtain veiled the enormous mountains. It was a sight to behold.

"Let's go swimming!" replied Chopper to which he and Hikari ran full speed to the lake. Placing their clothes near the tropical trees. (Yes their naked, but it's not wrong because they are both practically kids and Chopper was the only one allowed to be in the bathroom when Nami was taking a shower in the Brand New World, so it's okay. Especially since Hikari isn't anywhere near hitting puberty. Yet). Testing the water, they found it to be okay before jumping in.

"The water is amazing!" replied Chopper as he swam around the gorgeous lake.

"Let's check under the water!" suggested Hikari before the two swam below the lake's waters. They saw interesting fish and coral. They even found pretty shells, which they put away in a bag. Chopper laughed his head off when Hikari meditated under the waterfall! For a while, she gave a concentrated look that one could have mistaken for Zoro's when he meditated. But soon the waterfall's cold water began to affect the girl and she jumped off the rock! Knowing that the girl needed warmth, he and Hikari huddled up after they dried up and put their clothes back on.

As they did so, they noticed something near the waterfall. It appeared to be half-dragon, half-human being. She had silver claws and a silver tail, though her body and face appeared like a human.

"Woah, what is that?" Hikari wondered out loud

"I think this is demi-dragon" Choppper answered

"Demi-dragon?"

"Uh-huh, before we came here, I heard a couple of people talk about them. There used to be a lot full-blooded and half-blooded or demi- dragons in Dragon Town. However, people began hunting them and very little of them exist today…"

Looking over at the demi-dragon, Hikari noticed that she had a pearl-painted egg shell that she was trying keeping warm.

"It looks like she's a mommy…" said Hikari as the demi-dragon's silver wings protected the egg from the cold water.

"Yeah, I guess so" answered Chopper. Hikari kind of felt sad watching the mother protecting it's soon to be born child. It made her wonder what happened to her mom, and why she doesn't remember anything about her. Not only that, but it made her miss Zoro a lot. Though she only got to know him 2 weeks ago, Zoro was the closest thing as family to her. Now that she thought about it, it had been over 3 hours since she'd seen him.

Noticing the young girl's somewhat sad appearance, Chopper suggested that they collect their stuff and leave. Looking at the demi-dragon one last time, Hikari finally agreed and got her were about to head back in the direction they came, when all of a sudden they heard a loud sound.

"What was that?" asked Chopper as he looked around for the source of the sound

"Um…Chopper…" Hikari replied as she pointed towards the sky. Looking up, Chopper saw what the thing was. It was a ship! And it appeared to be flying! It seemed to have an engine that allowed it to fly. There were two huge propellers at the front and end of the ship while a few smaller propellers were placed around the front, end and sides of the vessel. Two anchors and roped ladders were thrown as people began coming down from the flying ship. Knowing things were going to go bad if they were spotted, Chopper took Hikari and hide behind the tall trees.

The men that came down from the ship seemed to be pirates. They all appeared to have the mark of a Jolly Roger, which was a skull with a net. Their captain was a man with blue hair and a scared eye.

"Alright men, it's hunting time! The one who finds the most interesting game gets six helpings more of today's rations!" replied the captain.

"Right!" replied the crew mates as they began their hunt.

"We have to get out of here quietly, before they see us" whispered Chopper as he and Hikari tried crawling away. However, they stopped immediately when they heard voice cry out. It was the demi-dragon! And she was being captured by the strange sky pirates. She tried her best to defend herself, attacking and shooting warning fire blasts at her enemies to keep them at bay. However, her attempts failed when a dart came flying her way, coming in contact with the demi-dragon's neck. With her defenses down, they threw their ropes and tied the dragon down.

"It seems like we have a half-blood, that'll be an interesting addition to my collection" replied the captain "Good jobs boys, looks like you all will be treated to lunch"

"Captain Chu, I see an egg!" replied one of the pirates as he pointed at the demi-dragon egg.

"Oh, really?" asked the captain "Bring it here! I'll add it to my collection too!"

As the man went to go pick up the egg, he was stopped when the demi-dragon mother tripped the man with her tail.

"Why you!" replied the pirate as the dragon growled at him. Apparently, the demi-dragon wasn't going down without a fight!

"If that's how you want it," answered the pirate as he pulled out his pistol "Then fine, I don't mind blowing some heads!"

"Coshi, don't kill my game!" answered Chu, however the demi-dragon had enough and broke through her restraints. With the energy she had, she began maliciously attacking the pirates, leaving each of them bleeding with her claw marks; though the damage wasn't gruesome enough to kill them. In her rampage, she set the ship on fire. Flames danced around the vessel as the fire consumed the ship.

"My ship!" yelled the captain before glaring at the demi-dragon "Now you have gone too far, she-beast!" Pulling out a rather large gun, Captain Chu took aim and fired. The demi-dragon would have blocked the attack to, had she not noticed that if she did so, the egg would suffer the damage. Putting the life of her baby above her own, the demi-dragon took the shot, instantly collapsing as the bullet hit her heart.

"Oh no!" Chopper cried out as the demi-dragon struggled between life and death. There was no way she could survive after an attack like that! However, as Chopper began panicking, the scene before them affected Hikari more than one would have believed. Her small hands gribbed the grass beneath her as her ember-green eyes turned coal-black. How could that man just take her life? As though her life meant nothing? Hikari couldn't understand it! Suddenly, all plans of hiding and going back to the Sunny escaped her mind. Only one thing came to her mind, and it was the paralyzed demi-dragon still protecting her egg.

"Shoot, I wished I didn't have to damage my game" replied Chu "But then again, the she-beast didn't leave me with much of a choice…"

As the sky pirate captain walked over to pick up the orphaned egg, he was suddenly stopped when a strong force knocked him down.

"_Wh-What was that?..."_ wondered Chu as he looked up into the face of his attacker. To his surprise, he saw that it was a little girl!

"Well, well, well. Who do we have here? I'm sorry little miss, but this isn't a tea party" replied Chu tauntingly when he noticed something. The strange girl had a tail!

"_This girl isn't normal. No normal little girl has a tail." _Thought Chu as he stared at the girl.

"Well, I don't know who you are or what you want, but I kindly need you to move so I can get that egg over there" answered Chu as he walked up the egg behind the girl. That is, when he noticed the girl gave him a cold, menacing glare that no little girl should know how to give.

"_**Stay away!**_" growled Hikari before she jumped up and kicked the captain square in the face!

Falling to the floor, Chu was a bit taken aback. Not only did the attack hurt, but it felt like the girl hit him more than one place within the moment she attacked him. Placing a hand towards his mouth, he noticed blood on his lips.

"_She's a tough one. She will make an interesting place in my collection!"_ thought Chu as he decided to replace the dying dragon with the strange-tailed girl. However, just as he approached her, the girl's eyes went wide. Her confident stance began to melt away as she began to back up away from him.

"What's the matter, girly. Lose your cool there?" asked Chu.

"**Get away from Hikari!**" yelled Chopper as he turned into his monster form and attacked the man.

"Woah!" yelled Chu as he blocked the attack. _"Where are all these strange monsters coming from? I've never had a game like this before!"_

"Come on, Hikari!" said Chopper as the girl got out of her shocked faze and picked up the egg before riding away with Chopper. However, they weren't going to get away as easy as they thought.

"Nobody gets away with Chu's game!"

Taking a control out of his jacket, Chu pressed a button. Making a smaller version of the flying ship come out from beneath the larger, burning ship. Jumping on the deck, Chu went full speed after the two.

"You can run, little beasts, but you can't hide!"

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"We need to hurry and find the others!" advised Chopper as he and Hikari ran through the jungle. If they could make it to the ship and contact the others, they could have back up and stop the crazy captain.

"Not so fast" replied a voice as a hand reached out and grabbed Hikari by the collar of her shirt.

"Let go of me!" yelled Hikari as she tried to get out of the sky captain's grasp.

"Leave her alone!" yelled Chopper

"Finders keepers, my little reindeer" replied Chu as he held the girl by her collar "If you want my game, your gonna have to do it the old fashion way."

Pointing at the sky, Chu said "Meet me at Sky Ryu Island near Mount Paozu. There, we will duke it out like men. You can bring back up if you want. If you and your team win, you can keep the girl. If I win, you join my collection"

Flying towards the sky, Chu and Hikari began to disappear from his sight.

"I'll be waiting for ya!"

"Chopper!" cried out Hikari

"Hikari!Don't worry, I will get you back!" Chopper yelled as the ship continued to disappear.

"At least, I hope I can…"

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Stay tuned to see what happens next.


End file.
